Game story: Look who’s back!

Decked out in vintage mid-90s uniforms, Oregon’s defense played like the “Gang Green” units of that era. The UO offense, finally balancing passing with rushing, looked like the high-powered machine it was the last two years.

Three weeks after events in Boise that called into question the character of one Duck and tested the character of all the others, Oregon played like the football team most everybody thought it would be in 2009. It took a fall from grace and two tests of will prior to Saturday, but in the wake of Oregon’s 42-3 dismissal of No. 6 California before 58,975 in Autzen Stadium, the Ducks (3-1 overall, 1-0 Pac-10) are back in the race for the conference title and should be back ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams.

It was Oregon’s third straight win over a top-10 opponent in Autzen Stadium, and called to mind recent dominating performances like the 2008 Civil War and Holiday Bowl, or the 2007 victory at Michigan. In all those cases, the Ducks played like one of the best teams in the nation, and while they were expected to do the same right out of the gate this season, it didn’t happen until Saturday.

The coaching cliche is that turnovers and special teams decide games. Oregon lost to Cal (3-1, 0-1) in both facets Saturday; the Ducks were just that much better on offense and defense.

“This just goes to show that, if we come out and play, anything can happen,” said UO tight end Ed Dickson, who erupted for three touchdowns after only having four receptions through three games. “We can be anything. … If we eliminate little penalties and stuff like that, it’s scary how good we could be.” Click here for the complete story.